Fishing the high spots of rock piles that are abundant in Lake Murray is a key to shellcracker success from May through the fall. Guide Brad Taylor uses a special rig to fish these places most effectively.
“These rock piles are magnets for shellcrackers, but they are also terrible for getting hung up and snagged if you simply cast a weighted line out to the bottom,” he said. “I’ve found the key to fishing these places is to use a float rig, but not a traditional type rig.
“For shellcrackers I use 10-pound test line; there’s no need to go ultra-light. I use a No. 2 Aberdeen gold hook baited with about half a nightcrawler, but red worms will also work. A few inches above, I clip a No. 7 split-shot, and above that, I have a 2-inch slip float that is allowed to slide completely free. The free-sliding float is the key to reducing snags in the rocks. The floats will simply free-line along the line above the split-shot. It will settle almost directly over your bait rig. What this rig does is allow the bait to drop almost straight down onto the target when cast.
“Most importantly, when I retrieve the rig, I can give it a quick pull and because of the float lying on the water above the bait the rig will come up off the bottom rather than go linear; (that) significantly reduces the chances of getting snagged. I learned the hard way that if I’m in the right type of rocky area for shellcrackers, I’ll hang up over half the time if not using the floats.
“Also, when I get a bite using this rig, I’ll often detect the movement of the float as soon as the light-biting shellcracker takes the bait,” he said. “But the fish feels no resistance, and that gives me time to get to the rig and set the hook before the fish gets snagged or tangles other lines. A 1- to 2-pound shellcracker is a strong fish and will give you plenty of fight for a fish that size.”
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